St. Andrew’s - Autumn 2011
Two of Farnham’s greatest treasures came together when the renowned Farnham Youth Choir gave their first concert of the season in the historic (Grade II listed) St. Andrew’s Church. For the second year running the choir sang in support of the Friends of St. Andrew’s (FoStA,) a charity with a community-based membership seeking to enhance the fabric and facilities of this heritage building
The Youth Choir was formed in 1984 by David and Gillian Victor-Smith and as well as performing at major venues in this country, it regularly travels abroad on concert tours and has gained an international reputation following repeated successes in prestigious competitions. In July, 2012 FYC are off to Cincinnati, USA, to participate in the seventh World Choir Games. At a previous games it won two gold diplomas and two silver medals.
Mike Baxter, the FoStA chairman, welcome the packed audience, including many of the choir’s parents and grandparents, as well as the town mayor Jill Hargreaves and the deputy mayor of Waverley.
The rapt audience enjoyed a magical two-hour programme ranging from the liturgical Tantum Ergo by Fauré to the spiritual Steal Away, sung as an encore in response to prolonged applause. The Herald was told: “They are very, very good, certainly world class, with a range of styles that they sing so consistently.”
They also sang in a variety of languages, starting with the Latin of the opening group which included religious music from the 16th century to the 20th century Festival Alleluia commissioned by the Farnham Festival. Later there were Galuppi’s Dixit Dominus in three movements contrasting with the hugely entertaining Swedish folk song Aglepta by Arne Mellnäs and the reflective Tread Softly by Allan Bullard. Given its first performance by the choir, this song (based on a poem by W. B. Yeats) was described by Mr. Victor-Smith as “a real gem”, found among the hundreds of songs he sorts through each year.
There were songs in Hungarian and Spanish (with lots of clapping), spirituals and traditional folk songs, Jerome Kern’s romantic Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and The Way We Were (Marvin Hamlisch). Some of the newest and youngest members had only been singing with the choir for six weeks, since rehearsals began after the summer holidays.
As a bonus, the audience was treated to two pieces for the flute – Annabelle Hennery played Bach’s Adagio from Sonate V in E Minor and Sicilienne by Fauré – and songs from soprano Lily German by Handel and Sondheim (Green Finch and Linnet Bird from the musical Sweeny Todd).
Mr. Victor-Smith directed and introduced the items and the choir’s accompanist Julia Freeman was at the piano.
Speaking on behalf of FoStA, Michael Blower said that “after that feast” it gave him great pleasure to thank the three groups: first, the choir. “It is absolutely phenomenal to think that a choir from our town has international recognition and has won prizes all over the world”; secondly, the secret of this success was the effort put in by David and Gillian Victor-Smith to create a new choir each year; thirdly, thanks were due to the parents, not only of the present choir, but also for the support of the parents of previous choirs.
Future performances include Christmas Words and Music at St. Thomas-on-The Bourne on December 11 and a Christmas concert at the Farnham Maltings on December 18. Farnham Youth Choir’s latest CD Hosanna is a selection of seasonal songs.
The Youth Choir was formed in 1984 by David and Gillian Victor-Smith and as well as performing at major venues in this country, it regularly travels abroad on concert tours and has gained an international reputation following repeated successes in prestigious competitions. In July, 2012 FYC are off to Cincinnati, USA, to participate in the seventh World Choir Games. At a previous games it won two gold diplomas and two silver medals.
Mike Baxter, the FoStA chairman, welcome the packed audience, including many of the choir’s parents and grandparents, as well as the town mayor Jill Hargreaves and the deputy mayor of Waverley.
The rapt audience enjoyed a magical two-hour programme ranging from the liturgical Tantum Ergo by Fauré to the spiritual Steal Away, sung as an encore in response to prolonged applause. The Herald was told: “They are very, very good, certainly world class, with a range of styles that they sing so consistently.”
They also sang in a variety of languages, starting with the Latin of the opening group which included religious music from the 16th century to the 20th century Festival Alleluia commissioned by the Farnham Festival. Later there were Galuppi’s Dixit Dominus in three movements contrasting with the hugely entertaining Swedish folk song Aglepta by Arne Mellnäs and the reflective Tread Softly by Allan Bullard. Given its first performance by the choir, this song (based on a poem by W. B. Yeats) was described by Mr. Victor-Smith as “a real gem”, found among the hundreds of songs he sorts through each year.
There were songs in Hungarian and Spanish (with lots of clapping), spirituals and traditional folk songs, Jerome Kern’s romantic Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and The Way We Were (Marvin Hamlisch). Some of the newest and youngest members had only been singing with the choir for six weeks, since rehearsals began after the summer holidays.
As a bonus, the audience was treated to two pieces for the flute – Annabelle Hennery played Bach’s Adagio from Sonate V in E Minor and Sicilienne by Fauré – and songs from soprano Lily German by Handel and Sondheim (Green Finch and Linnet Bird from the musical Sweeny Todd).
Mr. Victor-Smith directed and introduced the items and the choir’s accompanist Julia Freeman was at the piano.
Speaking on behalf of FoStA, Michael Blower said that “after that feast” it gave him great pleasure to thank the three groups: first, the choir. “It is absolutely phenomenal to think that a choir from our town has international recognition and has won prizes all over the world”; secondly, the secret of this success was the effort put in by David and Gillian Victor-Smith to create a new choir each year; thirdly, thanks were due to the parents, not only of the present choir, but also for the support of the parents of previous choirs.
Future performances include Christmas Words and Music at St. Thomas-on-The Bourne on December 11 and a Christmas concert at the Farnham Maltings on December 18. Farnham Youth Choir’s latest CD Hosanna is a selection of seasonal songs.
Farnham Herald
